Live: Strike announced in Israel amid mounting anger at Netanyahu

Gaza's health ministry said that 40,139 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's war on Gaza, 40 of them in the past 24 hours.

Additionally, 92,743 have been wounded since the start of the war.

Hamas' armed win, the Qassam Brigades, in cooperation with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Quds Brigades, claimed responsibility for the explosion that hit Tel Aviv, Israel on Sunday. 

"The Brigades confirm that martyrdom operations inside the occupied territories will return to the forefront as long as the occupation's massacres, displacement of civilians, and the continuation of the assassination policy continue," the group said in a statement.

Israeli fans of the Maccabi Haifa football club held up a sign that read "an Israeli child is [worth more than a] Gazan child", using the mathematical sign ">", signifying "greater than".

The move comes as Palestinian Israeli player Dia Saba is set to return to the club after playing on loan in the UAE.

Saba became deeply infamous among Maccabi Haifa fans after his wife posted on social media that "there are children in Gaza, too" days following the start of Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave.

כ"ך נראה נאציזם.
סבע - מועדון שאלו הם אוהדיו לא ראוי לך! עזוב אותו! pic.twitter.com/LRrc7gTPVL

— Ofer Cassif עופר כסיף عوفر كسيف (@ofercass) August 18, 2024

Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a new report in which it determined that Israel's July strike on Yemen's Hodeidah port was a "possible war crime".

"The Israeli airstrikes on Yemen’s Hodeidah port on the evening of 20 July 20, 2024, were an apparently unlawful indiscriminate or disproportionate attack on civilians that could have a long-term impact on millions of Yemenis who rely on the port for food and humanitarian aid," the report said.

The attack, which came a day after a Houthi drone hit Israeli's Tel Aviv, killed at least six people and injured at least 80.

HRW said the Houthis' attack may also constitute a war crime.

Israel's strikes "hit more than two dozen oil storage tanks and two shipping cranes in Hodeidah port in northwest Yemen, as well as a power plant in Hodeidah’s Salif district," HRW said.

Human Rights Watch @hrw found in a new report today that #Israel's attack on #Yemen's Hodeidah port may amount to a war crime, and likely used US weapons. The port is critical for humanitarian aid in a country where over half the population is in need.https://t.co/MFhWaRcfw0

— Niku Jafarnia (@NikuJafarnia) August 19, 2024

Israeli police and defence authorities said an explosion that hit Tel Aviv on Sunday night was a terror attack.

While Israel's Shin Bet security agency is still working on identifying the perpetrator, who was killed while carrying the bomb, Kan news reports that he is believed to have been a Palestinian from the West Bank.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has urged Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu to not miss the opportunity of signing a deal with Hamas which could secure the release of captives still held in Gaza.

"When the US Secretary of State says this morning, 'maybe this is the last chance for a deal', this is an appeal to Netanyahu: don't miss this opportunity, you abandoned them, it's your duty to return them," Lapid said on X. "If they don't come back, we can't heal."

גם הבוקר הזה הלב עם משפחות החטופים, עוד יום של ציפייה דרוכה לכל פירור של אור.

כשמזכיר המדינה האמריקאי אומר הבוקר, ״שאולי זו ההזדמנות האחרונה לעיסקה״, זו פניה לנתניהו: אל תחמיץ את ההזדמנות הזו, אתה הפקרת אותם, חובתך להחזיר אותם. אם הם לא יחזרו לא נוכל להחלים.

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) August 19, 2024

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the latest American diplomatic push to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is "probably the best, maybe the last, opportunity" to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza.

At the start of his meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Blinken said "it’s time for it to get done".

"It’s also time to make sure that no one takes any steps that could derail this process. So we’re looking to make sure that there is no escalation, that there are no provocations, that there are no actions that in any way could move us away from getting this deal over the line, or for that matter, escalating the conflict to other places and to greater intensity.

"It is time for everyone to get to yes and to not look for any excuses to say no."

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• The director of northern Gaza's Al Awda Hospital warned that the facility may have to shut down if it does not receive fuel supplies within the next day
• The Israeli army says that several drones were fired by Hezbollah into northern Israeli on Monday morning. While many were intercepted, some impacted in the Ya'ara area
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu and other top Israeli officials in an attempt to unblock the process for a Gaza ceasefire
• Physicians for Human Rights-Israel said that Israel plans to return 20 cancer patients receiving treatment in occupied East Jerusalem to the Gaza Strip
• US Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris told reporters that she is "not giving up" on a Gaza ceasefire

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that one of its volunteer doctors, Suliman Abu Shari’a, has been "forcibly disappeared" by Israel.

The PRCS has urged Israel to release him and three of his colleagues.

"Our colleague, Suliman Abu Shari’a, the PRCS volunteer doctor, has been forcibly disappeared for 230 days after being arrested by Israeli occupation forces during their raid on the PRCS EMS center in Jabalia, northern Gaza," the agency said. "To this day, his fate remains unknown."

"The PRCS expresses deep concern for Suliman and his three colleagues who remain in detention, especially given testimonies from released colleagues about mistreatment and abuse."

Our colleague, Suliman Abu Shari’a, the PRCS volunteer doctor, has been forcibly disappeared for 230 days after being arrested by Israeli occupation forces during their raid on the PRCS EMS center in Jabalia, northern Gaza. To this day, his fate remains unknown#NotATarget… pic.twitter.com/aT2ZPFz1jG

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) August 18, 2024

Good evening, Middle East Eye readers. 

Here's what's happened in the last few hours: 

• At least nine Palestinians have been killed and more injured due to fresh Israeli strikes targeting central Gaza
• The Israeli military has shot a Palestinian journalist in the back in Gaza's Khan Younis
• Hamas has said that the US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire did not include the Israeli army's withdrawal from Gaza and commitment to a future ceasefire
• The British civil servant who resigned on Friday citing concern over complicity in Israeli war crimes has said he was formerly the lead author of the central assessment governing the legality of UK arms sales in the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa Directorate

The British civil servant who resigned over concerns that the government is complicit in Israeli war crimes in Gaza has said he was formerly the lead author of the central assessment governing the legality of UK arms sales in the Foreign Office's Middle East and North Africa Directorate.

Diplomat Mark Smith's resignation was first reported when prominent journalist Hind Hassan posted the contents of his resignation letter on X on Friday evening. On Saturday Middle East Eye confirmed the resignation through two sources familiar with the situation.

He said: “It was my job to gather all relevant information regarding civilian casualties, international law compliance as well as assess the commitment and capabilities of the countries in question.”

“To export arms to any nation, the UK must be satisfied that the recipient nation has in place robust procedures to avoid civilian casualties and to minimize harm to civilian life. It is impossible to argue that Israel is doing that.”

It is unclear when Smith, who appears to have been at the British embassy in Dublin since at least 2022, was in this role.

Read more: Civil servant who resigned was formerly lead author of arms assessment

Israeli fighter jets have bombed the Zaqout building in Nuseirat refugee camp, Al Jazeera has reported.

Footage from the camp in central Gaza shows the explosion and aftermath, with people being heard screaming and shouting.

A new poll has revealed that 47% of Israeli Jews believe Israel should not obey international law and moral values during the course of the current war in Gaza.

The poll's findings were released on Sunday by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).

 The same poll suggested a majority of Israelis believe the prison officials accused of sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee should not face criminal charges and just be disciplined by the army.

Read more: Half of Israeli Jews say Israel should not obey international law in Gaza

The Israeli military has shot a Palestinian journalist in the back in Gaza's Khan Younis.

Palestinian reporter Salma al-Qadoumi and a group of other journalist were reporting from Khan Younis when Israeli tanks opened fire on them on Sunday, video footage shows.

Al-Qadoumi was shot in the back. Her current condition is unknown.

Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza, at least 111 Palestinians journalists and media workers have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed "serial" leakers" in Israel's negotiating team, accusing them of recommending that the Israeli military withdraws from the corridor between Egypt and Gaza.

Netanyahu's office said members of the team negotiating a ceasefire agreement with Hamas "claimed in recent months that Hamas would never agree to give up the end of the war as a condition of the deal, and recommended giving in to Hamas’s demand.”

According to Israeli media reports, in a tense meeting earlier on Sunday the negotiating team urged Netanyahu to show more flexibility in negotiations.